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Editorial: Solution to Western Hills Viaduct dilemma

We examine this deteriorating West Side landmark.
The Enquirer/Tony Jones

CIN
6:22 a.m. EDT June 3, 2014

While building transit right of way as part of the project could add considerably to the final bill, there is a cheaper solution: Build extra strength into the structure to accommodate for future expansion.(Photo: Enquirer file)

Fixing the crumbling Western Hills Viaduct is one of the region's most pressing transportation needs. But as urgent as the need is, the project must be done right, which includes preserving options for public transportation in the future.

A transit option for the bridge would add money to an already expensive project, estimated at $240 million, that has only a fraction of the necessary funds committed to it. It is tempting to try to save money and build the bridge as cheaply as possible, but that would be shortsighted. Unlike a road that can be widened easily, a complex bridge project like the Western Hills Viaduct needs to last for 50 or more years.

While building transit right of way as part of the project could add considerably to the final bill, there is a cheaper solution: Build extra strength into the structure to accommodate future expansion. This would give planners the flexibility of not committing to a transit option right now but would allow for streetcar, bus rapid transit or light-rail lanes as the future of a regional system evolves.

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The viaduct is an essential gateway to populous West Side neighborhoods. Most are residential, with few large employers, and as such they need to be connected to the city's jobs centers of Downtown and Uptown. Building the viaduct flexibly enough to accommodate changes in the way people commute would strengthen those neighborhoods far into the future. It would benefit West Side residents who can't afford a car, and it would also help attract current residents of the basin who may want a house with a yard someday but still stay close to Downtown.

Strengthening the structure for future expansion would allow the project to move ahead more quickly than waiting for full funding for extra lanes, and the Western Hills Viaduct is a project that must proceed as quickly as possible. More than 70,000 cars use it every day, and it's one of the 10 most-traveled, structurally deficient bridges in Ohio. It's reached the end of its useful life, and while experts say it's still safe, its crumbling concrete and exposed steel reinforce the urgent need to replace it.

We encourage city planners and officials from the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments to look at how transit across the viaduct would fit into local and regional transportation plans. Figuring out the plan now, as Cincinnati and Hamilton County seek funding for the viaduct's replacement and engineering studies are carried out, will save valuable time later. The Waldvogel and Eighth Street viaducts were rebuilt without transit; Western Hills is the last chance to connect the West Side and Downtown in a way that doesn't require a car.

It's impressive how neighborhood leaders from Price Hill and Westwood have come together with transit advocates to press for transit on the viaduct. Streetcar supporters have been accused of caring only about progress in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine, while many West Side residents felt neglected during the streetcar process.

That these groups could put those differences aside to collaborate on this issue is a model for how citizen groups can work together to improve the region for everyone.